Leopardo Project Wins AIA Justice Facilities Review Award
The Leopardo-built Glen Ellyn Police Station has won the Justice Facilities Review Award from AIA’s Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ). The two-story police headquarters on four acres replaces the undersized previous facility in the ground floor of a former junior high school.
“The Justice Facilities Review program offers examples of a broad range of design strategies and depicts the latest trends in the design and construction of justice facilities in the United States, including the implementation of sustainable justice principles,” writes the American Institute of Architects (AIA). “These projects demonstrate quality of form, functionality, and current architectural responses to complex justice design issues.”
The Leopardo-led design-build project was completed in collaboration with architecture firm Dewberry and was chosen from a list of carefully-curated entries.
The new station includes secured detention facilities and an enclosed sally port, as well as evidence processing with separate secured processing room storage and vehicle exam, officer locker rooms with bathroom and showers, emergency operating center, patrol investigations and administration spaces, large community room, public restrooms and fitness area.
The building’s material palette was inspired by the natural setting of the surrounding area and includes stone, glass and fiber cement panels that look like wood. The facility also features View Dynamic Glass, electrochromic windows that tint to maximize natural light automatically in the lobby and community room.
The project was featured during the 2019 AIA Conference on Architecture this past June in Las Vegas. Official recognition will happen during the Academy of Architecture for Justice fall conference on October 23-26 in San Diego.
